Band, Orchestra and Choir Perform

On Sunday October 8, the Western Reserve Academy community experienced its first concert of the year, featuring smashing performances from the band, orchestra, and choir alike. Ms. Margaret Karam ’79 served as conductor for all three groups with Ms. Elizabeth Wirtz assisting on piano.

This year’s fall concert focused on making classical music and choir pieces more accessible to children, as the theme, “From Princesses to Pirates,” demonstrated. Through a royal procession and selections from the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack, this theme was presented in a way which kids and performers alike seemed to thoroughly enjoy. “My favorite part was definitely at the beginning of the concert because all the little kids came marching in while waving little flags around,” remarked Regina Aguilar ’20.

In addition to fun theme music, each child received a bag with small instruments that they used in order to play with the students performing for them. During “Near the Tracks,”a jazz tune featuring the sound of a train entering town, the children all received train whistles so that they could help make music with the band. Children also played a game of catch with paper balloons during a Japanese choir song. Elizabeth Wren ’20, who plays french horn in WRA’s band, commented that “it was fun to watch the kids react to our concert and dress up. The interactive style is not a format I’m used to, but I hope we have the chance to do something similar in the future.” “I loved the interactive aspect of it because seeing the kids having fun made me so happy,” added Aguilar.

The quality of the performance made it clear how hard the band, orchestra, and choir had practiced in order to perform it just perfectly. Ethan Shockey ’20 stated that he’d practiced saxophone for six hours the day of the performance just to make sure he’d play it well. His story is similar to that of most everyone else in the musical arts, who care deeply about the music they play and express it through concerts like last Sunday’s, where they can share their passion for music with young children and adults alike.

“The Longest-Running Newspaper in Historic Hudson, Ohio”

Established in 1921, Western Reserve Academy's school newspaper, the Reserve Record, is an entirely student run, monthly publication that aims to educate its staff on excellence in reporting and journalistic techniques through informing and entertaining the student body and surrounding communities.